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Posts Tagged ‘Rum’

Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rum is a molasses based rum produced on the Island of Jamaica. Over the past few years It seems that every time I re-sample this particular brand, I am forced to re-score my review and place it further up the ladder until this year it has reached the rungs occupied by what I feel are the best rums in the world.

My new score this year places the Appleton 12 Year Old Jamaican rum all the way up to the number 5 spot in my countdown of the best rums of 2014.

The number 6 rum in my 2014 countdown is quite an interesting spirit. According to my correspondence with Mr. Rossi of Rum Nation, he purchased 3 casks of aged Demerara rum from a vendor in the United Kingdom in 2002. The barrels bore the marque from the famous Double Wooden Pot still of the Port Maurant Estate (PM). These ex bourbon casks were transferred into a Sherry Butt (Oloroso N. 61) in 2004 and were left to age in an underground cellar in Bristol, England where “early landed cognac” (Hine and Delamain) was also aged. The cellar in Bristol was closed in 2007, and the rum was brought to the Piedmont area of Italy (famous for the nebbiolo grape varietal) where it continued to age until 2012 when it was bottled in Italy.

The age statement on the rum is based upon certification in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately there is no record of when the rum was shipped from Guyana to the UK; however my speculation is that it was probably meant to be part of the blend of a ‘navy style’ rum as Port Mourant Rum (from the Double Wooden Still) is one of the key ingredients in British Navy Rums.

Here is a link to my review of this very interesting and outstanding rum:

A Note about the Port Mourant Still: The Port Mourant Sugar Factory was founded in 1753. The original wooden pot still (the PM), is the only production still of its kind left in the entire world. If one was to make a list of the Seven Wonders of the Rum World, the Port Mourant Wooden Double Pot Still would surely be upon that list as this ancient still produces Demerara Rum for DDL Distilleries to this day.

Demerara County (in Guyana) is popular across the world for its rich, three hundred year history of rum production. Using a combination of old wooden stills in conjunction with modern stills and distilling techniques, Demerara Distillers Ltd. (DDL) has built a reputation for outstanding quality and consistent production. In fact, Demerara Distillers is the currently the largest supplier of bulk Caribbean rums to Europe and North America.

The El Dorado 12 Year Old Special Reserve Rum is blended from aged stocks (the youngest being no less than 12 years old) from the original Wooden Enmore Coffey still, the original metal Diamond Coffey still, as well as from the ancient Port Mourant double wooden pot still which was used to produce ‘navy’ rum for the English Admiralty. All of the Demerara Rum produced by El Dorado is aged exclusively in American oak (bourbon barrels).

Checking in as the 2014 – 7th best rum in the world (that I have tasted anyways), here is my review for the El Dorado 12 Year Old Rum:

I have tried this rum in different settings and in a few cocktails, and it pleases me almost completely every time. I find that the sweetness of the rum is perfectly balanced with the spicy oakiness, and I also appreciate that the flavour of the El Dorado 12 Year Old remains robust and complex yet very approachable.

The rums of Juan Santos are produced in Colombia, South America by Santana Liquors. The 21 Year Antigua Reserva is a molasses based rum which has been apparently been aged for 21 years in used whisky and bourbon barrels from Kentucky. At this time the Juan Santos brand is available only in Western Canada, although the Ron Santero brand from Santana Liquors is available in other markets.

Although the Juan Santos brand is relatively unknown outside of the Western Canadian market I have discovered that these rum brings an astounding level of smoothness and depth to the rum glass.

Here is my review of the Number 8 Rum in my 2014 Top 25 Rum Countdown:

Juan Santos 21 Year Old Rum is one of the very smoothest rum I have encountered. The balance is wonderful, as the various flavours the rum possesses seem to melt and merge into each other such that individual flavours were very hard to discern. This mixing and melting of flavours results in a truly wonderful rum. Just about perfect!

The Caroni Distillery in Trinidad and Tobago was established in 1918, and was operated at near full capacity until 1993. Unfortunately, due to industry consolidation, rum production at the facility began to decline late in the 20th century and the distillery was closed in 2002. As a matter of interest, the consolidation of the rum industry during the last two centuries is amply illustrated in Trinidad and Tobago where there this small country featured 50 distilleries at the turn of the 19th century. One hundred and fifty years later (in 1950) only 8 had survived, and today there is but one, Angostura. It seems a pity that so much tradition and history has vanished. Although I guess we can count ourselves lucky that some of the rum barrels from the Caroni distillery are still finding their way into the market place.

The Rum Nation Caroni 1998 is one such offering from the folks at Rum Nation. This is an old-style heavy column still rum which was distilled in 1998 and aged for nine years in American Oak casks on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad. From this tropical locale, the rum was transported to Europe for further aging in refill American Oak (bourbon) casks which had been also previously used to age Rum Peruno (8YO). The resulting Rum Nation Caroni 1998 rum was bottled at cask strength (55 % alcohol by volume).

This Rum Nation Caroni 1998 rum is very pleasing indulgence with an original, albeit somewhat dry and bitter flavour profile. Fortunately there is just the right amount of sweetness present to offset the bitter and I found myself quite smitten with the overall result.

Ron Zacapa rums are made from sugar cane harvested in southern Guatemala, which is pressed into virgin sugar cane honey. They are aged using a process they call ‘Sistema Solera’ which is based on the system used to age Spanish sherry. Ron Zacapa Centenario (23 Solera) is blended from solera aged stocks which range in age from 6 years to 23 years. The aging barrels used are a mixture of American Whisky casks, and Sherry and Pedro Ximenez wine barrels. The combination of solera aging and the variety of reused barrels creates a highly complex rum with a rich aroma and flavour.

This year I took the opportunity to revisit a newer bottling of the Ron Zacapa Centenario (23 Solera) Rum as part of my Top Rums of 2014 Countdown series which I have been conducting through the month of December. My understanding based upon previous conversations with ZacapaMaster Blender, Lorena Vásquez is that the flavour of the Ron Zacapa Rum varies slightly from year to year. Therefore, we may expect some differences in the rum since that last review over two years ago.

Based upon my latest scoring, Ron Zacapa Centenario (23 Solera) Rum, checks into my Top 25 rum countdown as the 11th best rum of 2014.

The Diamond Distillery sits on the East Bank of the Demerara River near Georgetown, Guyana. The Distillery was originally part of the Diamond Estate which was the last of the Sugar Plantation Estates in Guyana to produce rum. Now, of course, it is home to Demerara Distillers Ltd. (DDL) who are popular across the world for their rich, Demerara Rum.

The El Dorado 25 Year Old Vintage Reserve Rum is a blend of aged rums created to mark the turn of the millennium. It is blended from 25-year-old rum stocks which have been aged in used bourbon oak casks. I have been fortunate enough to have been allowed to taste this vintage rum on several different occasions over the past several years.

My review is based upon the most recent bottling available in here in Alberta, Canada, and that review score has placed the El Dorado 25 Year Old in the number 12 spot in my countdown of the Best Rums in the World.

Every time I taste this rum, I am reminded of another great El Dorado Rum, the El Dorado Special Reserve 15 Year Old. It seems to me that these two rums must share a similar heritage. Although the El Dorado’s 15 Year Old Rum is wonderful, their 25 Year Old Rum raises the bar even higher. Its flavour is more refined and elegant, and as a result the rum is wonderful sipping experience.

When I contacted Fabio Rossi (founder Rum Nation who have already placed a couple of fine rums in my countdown) and asked him about his other Rum Company, Ron Millonario, he explained that although the parent company of the Ron Millonario brand (Rossi and Rossi S.R.I.) is headquartered in Italy, the rums of Ron Millonario are produced in Northern Peru. Because the rum produced by the Peruvian distillery (he declined to say exactly which distillery it is) are of such a high quality, he decided to market them on their own, separate from the Rum Nation Brand.

Ron Millonario Solera 15 Reserva Especial, is produced in Peru from a 4 stage Solera process with the final stage bringing the oldest rum in the blend to 15 years. (Based upon the information sent to me by the brand owner, the youngest rum in the blend would 8 years.) The rum is also bottled in Peru at 40 % alcohol by volume.

I agree that the Peruvian rum is of high quality, and this year the Ron Millonario Solera Reserva Especial is my # 13 Rum in my top 25 countdown of the best rums in the world.

The Ron Millonario Solera 15 Reserva Especial is a wonderful Rum. It is rich, full of strong flavours and carries just a bit of rough and tumble character forward with impressions of dark treacle, licorice laced molasses, and a firm oakiness set firmly into the rum.

Rum Nation is an Italian company created by Fabio Rossi, who began his life in the spirits trade as a Oenologist (one who has studied wine-making). After his studies, Mr. Rossi left the wine business and started up a whisky company in Edinburgh (Wilson and Morgan) acting as an independent bottler of Single Malt Scotch Whisky. His interest turned to rum, and in 1999 Fabio Rossi founded Rum Nation. His company is headquartered in Italy; but Fabio purchases select rums from various distillers in the Caribbean and the Americas. As a result Rum Nation provides a rather unique assortment of limited edition bottlings.

Panama 21

One such bottling is Rum Nation Panama which (according to the information sent to my from Mr. Rossi) is made from sugar cane molasses, distilled in continuous column and aged in American oak barrels (Quercus alba) for 21 years in Panama. Fabio has a good nose for rum and his Rum Nation Panama 21 Year Old is the 14th best rum I tasted in 2014.

Rum Nation Panama 21 Year Old has a complex flavour profile full of oak spice, tobacco, canned fruit and dry fruit. Everything works together seamlessly with no single element stealing the show. Fabio Rossi obviously takes great care in the selection of his rum. We can expect to see more of Rum Nation later in the countdown.

The Plantation XO 20th Anniversary Rum is a blending of the company’s oldest Bajan Rum reserves. These selected rums were first aged in the Caribbean (in ex-bourbon casks). Then they are transported to France to be blended by Plantation Rum’sCellar Master at Château de Bonbonnet. The blended rum is matured a second time in small French oak casks for another 12 to 18 months. This “double aging” gives rise to a startling increase in both the body of the rum and its complexity, and is the signature of Cognac Ferrand’s Plantation Rum portfolio.

The Plantation XO Anniversary Rum received a facelift earlier this year with a snazzy new bottle; and the rum inside that snazzy bottle is a delicious as ever; in fact, it is the # 15 Rum in my Countdown of the Best rums of 2014.

Here is my 2012 review, which I have updated only by adding the new bottle shot:

The Plantation XO 20th Anniversary Barbados Rum is an excellent way to cap off on evening. The rum is full of oak spice, and in some ways it reminds me very much of a fine oaky Cognac. But perhaps comparing this rum to a fine cognac is a little unfair to the rum. For unquestionably this is rum, not cognac. And a Rum this good, need not be compared to anything!